Rowboat stabilizing means



March 1966 B. M. PERLICK ROWBOAT STABILIZING MEANS Filed March 9, 1964 INVENTOR. EEP4 4PD PEPZ /C{ ATTOP/UZX United States Patent 3,238,912 ROWIIUA'I STABILIZING MEANS Bernard M. Periich, 3450 Eenjamin St. NE, Minneapolis, Minn. Fiied Mar. 9, I964, Ser. No. 350,232 4 Claims. (Cl. 114--230) The present invention is concerned with a means for stabilizing a rowboat, particularly of the type used for duck hunting.

Duck hunting is usually done from a boat located in an area where there is a blind, such as a marshy growth above the water level. These areas are quite shallow, with an average depth of about five feet. It is often the practice for duck hunters to sit a number of hours in such a boat. This can be quite fatiguing unless there is some way of preventing constant rocking of the boat. This rocking occurs, not only as a result of turbulence of the water, but because of shifting of the weight of the hunters, particularly Where two or more people are hunting in the same boat. Both hunters are busy watching the sky for game and are constantly changing position to widen the scope of their views. This action, however slight, is sufiicient to cause the hazardous and annoying condition of a rocking and unstable boat. Furthermore, occasionally the sudden shifting of a hunter when he spots game in the air, may result in the boat overturning.

It is accordingly very desirable to have some means for stabilizing the boat against rocking. It is also equally important that any such stabilizing means be of a type which can be quickly detached from the boat to permit the use of oars to row the boat to a point where the game can be recovered.

It has been previously proposed to provide posts or stilt like members which are driven into the bed of the body of water and which cooperate with members secured to the boat to stabilize the boat for this purpose. Prior devices of this type, however, have had certain definite disadvantages. In some cases, they involve bars extending across the boat which restrict the movements of the hunters within the boat and which tend to make it more difficult to move the boat quickly when it is necessary to do so to recover game. Another device of this type requires an anchoring means which must be brought around the under side of the boat and secured to the opposite side of the boat from that which is secured to the post. This is difficult to apply Without the hunter getting into the water.

An object of the present invention is to provide a stabilizing means for a boat comprising a plurality of independent posts which collectively stabilize the boat and which can be quickly removed from the boat to permit the use of oars to row the boat to another spot.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel clamping means for securing a boat to a stabilizing post in such a way that the boat is firmly held in respect to the post and such that the clamping means can quickly be released to permit the boat to be freed.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the accompanying specification and drawing of which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a boat with four of my stabilizing posts;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of my improved clamping means as viewed from the inside of the boat; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of certain elements of my improved clamping means.

Referring initially to FIGURE 1, I have shown a rowboat 10 of the type used in duck hunting. Secured to this boat are four posts 11, 12, I3, and 14. Each of these posts, as best shown in FIGURE 2 in connection with post 14, has its lower end extending a sufiicient distance into the ground 15 beneath the body of water 16 to insure the post remaining upright. If desired, though not shown, the lower end of each post may be pointed somewhat to facilitate its insertion into the ground 15.

Secured to the post 14 is a clamping means designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 17. This clamping means comprises a sleeve 18 which at least partially surrounds post 14. In the specific form shown, this clamping sleeve completely surrounds the post. Extending through this one wall of the sleeve is a thumb screw 19 which is adapted to be turned to clamp the sleeve 13 in any selected vertical position on the post 14. A clamping member 20 is slideably supported by the sleeve 18. This clamping member, as best shown in FIGURE 5, consists of a rod member 20 bent and with its ends welded together to form a closed loop. The inner end of this clamping member is bent downwardly and inwardly, as best shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, to form a hook like portion 22 to engage the inner side of the boat. The two legs of the clamping member 20 extend through openings 23 and 24 formed in bosses which may be either integral with the sleeve or welded thereto. Interposed between the sleeve I8 and the outer end of the clamping member 29 is a tightening member 25 which specifically is shown as a wedge member having an inclined surface 27 and a stop shoulder 29 at its lower end to prevent complete withdrawal of the tightening member 26. The sleeve 18 is provided with a shoulder 3% and when the clamping member is in engagement with the edge of a boat, this shoulder 30 lies beneath the under surface of the ledge 31 conventionally provided at the upper edge of such a boat. The clamping member 2th is provided with slight projections 25 to limit the outward movement of clamp ing member 2% sufliciently to always prevent the tightening member from dropping out between the sleeve 18 and the outward portion of the tightening member.

From the foregoing description, it can be readily seen that my improved clamping means provides an arrangement for rigidly securing the post 14 to the side of the boat lit. The post is first inserted into the ground 15 a sufiicient distance to maintain the post in an upright position. With the wedge member 26 drawn upwardly sufiiciently to permit the slide 20 to move to the right (as viewed in FIGURE 2) sufficiently to permit the hook portion 22 to be inserted over the inner edge of the boat, the sleeve 18 is then slid downwardly until the clamping member 20 rests on top of the boat. The thumb screw 19 is then tightened to maintain the sleeve in the desired position on the post M. The wedge or tightening member 26 is then forced downwardly to draw the clamping member to the left, bringing the hook portion into tight engagement with the side of. the boat and forcing the sleeve 18 into engagement with the ledge 31. The flange 24B of the sleeve 18 lies immediately beneath this ledge. Boats of the type used for duck hunting often have a further ledge 33 disposed just above the typical normal water line. The tightening or clamping means, when the same is forced downwardly, tends to draw the post 14 against this lower flange 33. It will now be seen that the boat It is rigidly anchored to the post 14.

The clamping means associated with the other posts 11, 12 and 13 are identical to that described in connection with post 114. It will readily be seen that when the four clamping means associated with the four posts are tightened in the manner just described, the boat will be held firmly against any rocking movement. The occupants of the boat are in effect sitting in a relatively stationary 3 boat and it is possible for the occupants to move about freely without and discomfort and without any movement in the boat causing rocking thereof, Furthermore, the waves, which occur in any natural body of water, do not cause the boat to rock.

A very important feature of my invention is the ease with which the clamping means can be removed from the boat when it is desired to move the boat for some purpose such as recovering fallen game. In such cases, it is desirable to move the boat rather quickly in order to recover the game as quickly as possible. When it is desired to free the boat, all that it is necessary to do is to lift up the wedge member 26. This can be facilitated by applying force on the underside of the Wedge member which is above the water level. This frees the clamping member 20. It is not even necessary in normal cases to loosen the thumb screw 19 since it is possible to rock the boat or tilt the post sufficiently to release the clamping member from the inner edge of the boat when the clamping member 20 is freed by lifting of the wedge member 26. This process is quickly repeated for each of the four clamping members associated with the posts 11, 12, 13, and 24. Unlike a previous arrangement which employs the oars of the boat to stabilize the boat, the oars are available for movement of the boat to the point where the game is lying. Furthermore, if an outboard motor is employed, there is nothing to prevent free operation of the outboard motor and the outboard motor is relatively accessible. The posts 11, 12, 13, and 14 are left standing in the water until the game is recovered. After the game is recovered, the boat can then be propelled back to its original position with respect to the posts and the clamping means can be quickly re-attached to the boat.

It will be seen that I have provided a novel boat stabilizing means which enables a boat to be stabilized in a shallow body of water and which permits the boat to be quickly freed from the stabilizing means when necessary.

It will also be seen that I have provided a novel clamping means for use with boat stabilizing posts which enables the boat to be quickly clamped to the posts and which permits quick detachment of the boat from the posts so as to permit movement of the boat when necessary.

While I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that the invention is limited only by the scope of the attached claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In combination with a boat floatingly supported on the surface of a natural body of water; at least two posts located on opposite sides of the boat and adapted to be vertically imbedded in the floor of the water body with their upper ends extending above the upper sides of the boat, each of said posts having a clamping means secured thereto and to said boat; each of said clamping means comprising a sleeve at least partially surrounding said post, means on said sleeve for adjustably securing the same against vertical movement on the post in a vertical position determined by the extent to which the post projects into the water and into the floor of the water body, a clamping member slidably secured to said sleeve and having a boat engaging portion extending over the inner edge of the boat, and cam means located outwardly of the boat engaging portion of said clamping member and cooperating with said clamping member and said sleeve for moving said clamping member to draw such boat engaging portion against the inner side of said boat to clamp said boat against said sleeve, said cam means being quickly releasable to permit said clamping member to be moved to a position in which said boat can be released from said clamping means.

2. In combination with a boat floatingly supported on the surface of a natural body of water, at least three posts adapted to be vertically imbedded in the floor of the water with their upper ends extending above the upper sides of the boat, at least two of said posts being located on opposite sides of the boat, each of said posts having a clamping means secured thereto and to said boat; each of said clamping means comprising a sleeve at least partially surrounding said post, means on said sleeve for adjustably securing the same against vertical movement on the post in a vertical position determined by the extent to which the projects into the water and into the floor of the water body, a clamping member slidably secured to said sleeve and having a boat engaging portion extending over the inner edge of the boat, and wedge means located outwardly of the boat engaging portion of said clamping member and cooperating with said clamping member and said sleeve for moving said clamping member to draw said boat engaging portion against the inner side of said boat to clamp said boat against said sleeve, said wedge means being quickly releasable to permit said clamping member to be moved to a position in which said boat can be released from said clamping means.

3. A clamping device for securing to a post a boat floatingly supported on the surface of a natural body of water, said clamping device comprising a sleeve adapted to at least partially surround such a post, means on said sleeve for adjustably securing the same against vertical movement on the post in a vertical position determined by the extent to which the post projects into the water and int-o the floor of the Water body, a clam-ping member slidably secured to said sleeve and having a boat engaging portion extending over the edge of the boat, and wedge means held between and cooperating with said clamping member and said sleeve for moving said clamping member to draw said boat engaging portion against the inner side of the boat to clamp said boat against said sleeve, said wedge means being located on the side of said sleeve opposite to the boat engaging portion so as not to extend into the boat and being quickly releasable to permit said clamping member to be moved to a posistion in which the boat can be released from said clamping device.

4. In combination with a boat, floatingly supported on the surface of a natural body of water; at least two posts located on opposite sides of the boat and adapted to be vertically imbedded in the floor of the water body with their upper ends extending above the upper sides of the boat, each of said posts having a clamping means secured thereto and to said heat; each of said clamping means comprising means adjustably securing the clamping means to the post in a vertical position determined by the extent to which the post projects into the water and the floor of the water body, a clamping member having a boat engaging member extending over the inner edge of the boat and projecting only slightly inside of said boat, and quickly releasable tightening means located outwardly of the boat engaging portion of said clamp member and cooperating with said clamping member for tightening said clamping member against said boat to hold said boat against said post; each of said clamping means being independent of the other to leave the interior of thet boat substantially unobstructed by said clamping means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,400 1/1940 Bosco. 2,526,871 10/1950 Johnson 114-230 2,907,294 10/1959 Lawler 114-230 FOREIGN PATENTS 703,285 2/1931 France.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A BOAT FLOATINGLY SUPPORTED ON THE SURFACE OF A NATURAL BODY OF WATER; AT LEAST TWO POSTS LOCATED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE BOAT AND ADAPTED TO BE VERTICALLY IMBEDDED IN THE FLOOR OF THE WATER BODY WITH THEIR UPPER ENDS EXTENDING ABOVE THE UPPER SIDES OF THE BOAT, EACH OF SAID POSTS HAVING A CLAMPING MEANS SECURED THERETO AND TO SAID BOAT; EACH OF SAID CLAMPING MEANS COMPRISING A SLEEVE AT LEAST PARTIALLY SURROUNDING SAID POST, MEANS ON SAID SLEEVE FOR ADJUSTABLY SECURING THE SAME AGAINST VERTICAL MOVEMENT ON THE POST IN A VERTICAL POSITION DETERMINED BY THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE POST PROJECTS INTO THE WATER AND INTO THE FLOOR OF THE WATER BODY, A CLAMPING MEMBER SLIDABLY SECURED TO SAID SLEEVE AND HAVING A BOAT ENGAGING PORTION EXTENDING OVER THE INNER EDGE OF THE BOAT, AND CAM MEANS LOCATED OUTWARDLY OF THE BOAT ENGAGING PORTION OF SAID CLAMPING MEMBER AND COOPERATING WITH SAID CLAMPING MEMBER AND SAID SLEEVE FOR MOVING SAID CLAMPING MEMBER TO DRAW SUCH BOAT ENGAGING PORTION AGAINST THE INNER SIDE OF SAID BOAT TO CLAMP SAID BOAT AGAINST SAID SLEEVE, SAID CAM MEANS BEING QUICKLY RELEASABLE TO PERMIT SAID CLAMPING MEMBER TO BE MOVED TO A POSITION IN WHICH SAID BOAT CAN BE RELEASED FROM SAID CLAMPING MEANS. 